22 
this point, but it can readily be seen what an effect a number of these 
birds must have on a field of grass in the height of the grasshopper 
season. Of the 238 stomachs collected at all seasons of the year, 178, 
or more than two-thirds, contained remains of grasshoppers, and one 
was filled with fragments of 37 of these insects. This seems to show 
conclusively that grasshoppers are preferred and are eaten whenever 
they can be procured. The great number taken in August is especially 
noticeable. This is essentially the grasshopper month, i. e., the month 
when grasshoppers reach their maximum abundance; and the stomach 
examination has shown that a large number of birds resort to this diet 
in August, no matter what may be the food during the rest of the year. 
Next to grasshoppers, beetles make up the most important item of 
the meadow lark’s food, amounting to nearly 21 per cent, of which about 
one-third are predaceous ground beetles. The others are all harmful 
Fia. 11.—Meadow lark. 
species, and when it is considered that the bird feeds exclusively on the 
ground, it seems remarkable that so few useful ground beetles are eaten. 
Many of them have a disgusting odor, and possibly this may occasion- 
ally save them from destruction by birds, especially when other food is 
abundant. Caterpillars, too, form a very constant element, and in May 
constitute over 28 per cent of the whole food. May is the month when 
the dreaded cutworm begins its deadly career, and then the bird does 
some of its best work. Most of these caterpillars are ground feeders, 
and are overlooked by birds which habitually frequent trees; but the 
meadow lark finds them and devours them by thousands. The remain- 
der of the insect food is made up of a few ants, wasps, and spiders, with 
a few bugs, including some chinch bugs. 
The vegetable food consists of grain, weed, and other hard seeds. 
Grain in general amounts to 14, and weed and other seeds to 12 per cent. 
